Tuesday, May 10, 2016

NEW YORK (BP) -- Homosexual New York councilman Danny Dromm has urged the boycott of a Chick-fil-A scheduled to open in his Queens council district this fall, releasing an official press statement accusing the chain of supporting groups opposed to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered lifestyles.

At an unrelated press conference, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio counseled citizens not to frequent the chain that already has two successful restaurants in Manhattan, citing the chain ownership's support of biblically based marriage, but stopped short of calling for a boycott. Read More

NASHVILLE (BP) -- There's no consensus among Protestant pastors whether a colleague accused of misconduct should step down from the pulpit for a time, according to a LifeWay Research survey released today (May 10).

Few respondents, however, say pastors who commit adultery should be permanently banned from ministry, LifeWay Research reported on the findings of a telephone survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors.

"Pastors believe church leaders should be held to high standards," said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research, based in Nashville. "They also want to protect themselves against allegations that could be false." Read More

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The suicide death of a beloved colleague after a sexual addiction came to light drove the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary community to their knees in prayer last August. They rose determined to help others caught in pornography and sexual addiction.

"Recalibrate," a campus-wide conference with Greg Miller of Faithful & True, a ministry to those impacted by sexual addictions, came together as a response to the death of John Gibson, longtime professor at NOBTS' Leavell College on the opening day of classes on Aug. 24, 2015. Read More

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- Clyde Meador, who retires May 13 from the International Mission Board, is known -- along with his wife Elaine -- among missionary teams for steady, unflappable leadership. Yet 41 years of service, with Clyde most recently serving as executive advisor to IMB's president, appear to testify to the Meadors' simple steps of obedience even more than to their strategic insights and leadership.

"When you look at Clyde's and Elaine's lives, it's step-by-step obedience in the same direction towards the Father's will for their lives," said John Brady, vice president for Global Engagement. Read More

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Russell Moore has finally found agreement with one of Donald Trump's insulting tweets.

Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, responded in television interviews Monday evening (May 9) to the following Twitter comment from the presumptive Republican presidential nominee early in the day: Read More

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The House Armed Services Committee has approved an amendment to ensure faith-based ministries can continue to serve America's men and women in uniform.

"We need to level the playing field; we have a First Amendment and it says 'the free exercise thereof,"' said Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., who introduced the amendment during an annual defense bill mark-up. "This rule affirms prior policy that faith-based organizations are no less eligible than secular organizations to deliver federally funded services." Read More

DALLAS (BP) -- Health care costs continue to rise due to impact from the federal Affordable Care Act and are causing insurers to seek large rate hikes, while others have chosen to depart the health care exchanges altogether, according to GuideStone Financial Resources. Read More

R. Albert Mohler Jr. asks "whether the American experiment can survive" radical political change that may result from November's election between likely nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. And it poses "a significant problem for many Christians who believe they cannot, in good conscience, vote for either party's nominee," Mohler writes. Read More

Formed in 1946 by the Southern Baptist Convention, and supported with Cooperative Program funds, Baptist Press (BP) is a daily (Monday-Friday) international news service. Operating from a central bureau in Nashville, Tenn., BP works with a large network of contributing writers, photographers and editorial providers to produce BP News.